Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

Blood Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 5, 2021

Note: This film is available as part of The Dungeon of Andy Milligan.

Lovers of what might be charitably termed Grade Z Cinema have had a number of outstanding releases by a variety of labels over the past few years. Arrow has offered fans surprisingly deluxe-ified (that's a word, I insist) editions of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast and Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection, among others, while Severin Films has gotten into exploring this decidedly odd nook and/or cranny with releases like Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection. Severin's back with more, um, "masterpieces" with this inventively packaged homage to the late Andy Milligan, a kinda sorta auteur whose professional life had more than its fair share of hurdles, and whose personal life unfortunately ended up not being much better. The 14 films (with one bonus film in HD, Toga Party) aggregated in this set are exploitation outings at their "finest" (?), which means those with more patrician tastes are probably well advised to steer completely clear of this release. Those with grittier sensibilities will find some at times oddly entertaining movies and Severin's usual supply of appealing supplements.

Fans of classic horror films may recall that Universal in particular liked to "team up" its monsters occasionally, with films like House of Frankenstein and/or House of Dracula offering viewers a chance to get a "greatest hits" collection of favorite characters. Now even someone as audacious as Andy Milligan probably wouldn't want to invite the umbrage of any legal eagles out to catch copyright violators, but Blood is in its own way an almost hilariously devised "combo platter" of various iconic characters (or at least types) from legendary tales (not to mention the movies culled from them).

Suffice it to say that Lawrence (Allan Berendt) and Regina Orlovsky (Hope Stansbury) might be perfectly at home in either of the features linked to above, with Lawrence perhaps reminding some of another Larry, namely Talbot of The Wolf Man fame, and Regina appearing to be for all intents and purposes Dracula's Daughter. The Milligan tendency toward completely gonzo supporting characters is also on display, though this is another kind of chaotic narrative that provides little in the way of coherence, let along chills.

Blood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blood is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Severin's booklet included with this release has the following information on the transfer:

Blood was scanned in 2K from a 35mm answer print, as all pre-print materials are believed lost or destroyed.

Given the source element, this presentation looks decently robust, though the palette is arguably slightly faded, and there's a somewhat fuzzy and soft quality on display that can keep fine detail levels at bay at times. While black levels are generally solid, they actually can overwhelm some of the darker moments, leading to minor bouts of crush. Fine detail on some of the fabrics (Milligan did love his ornate costumes) actually register with a fair degree of precision. As with all of the other presentations in this set, there is occasional age related wear and tear on display, though few if any of the bright green scratches and similar disfigurements that afflict some of the other transfers in this set.

Blood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blood features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix that has some of the same high end brightness and overall lack of dynamic range that accompany many of the other tracks on this set. That said, there's no egregious damage and dialogue actually makes it through the gauntlet rather well, all things considered. Optional English subtitles are available.

Blood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• * Trailer - Monstrosity (HD; 2:12)

*Carnage and this film share one disc, and this more generalized supplement is therefore included in both reviews.

Blood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Blood seems to be Milligan's attempt to give viewers at least a couple of iconic monster types in one completely gonzo and more than occasionally incoherent story. This features generally decent video and audio, for those who are considering making a purchase.